Disney immediately made the promise with the red chimneys. Red funnels are the trademark of the shipping company ships, adorned with the likeness of a Mickey Mouse – after all, everyone should be able to see from afar that there isn’t just any cruise ship on the way. The new color will also be painted on the metal walls in Wismar over the next two years, that was the positive news that spilled over to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Thursday: Disney Cruise Lines confirmed the purchase of the Global dream – the giant ship of the insolvent MV shipyards still gets a future.
Insolvency administrator Christoph Morgen had been looking for a buyer for the company since the beginning of the year Global dream hard, it was not an easy task. The ship is already three quarters finished – but because with the insolvent former owner Genting Hongkong also the client of the Global dream disappeared, uncertain what would happen to the ship. Disney’s decision to make the purchase is also a sign of an industry on the rise.
The casino will disappear and the number of passengers will be reduced
The change that the Global dream will soon go through, but will cost a lot again and could hardly be larger: It was originally designed as a mobile gambling palace, a floating casino, such ships are popular on the Asian market. Of course, that doesn’t fit into Disney’s dream factory, which is under Global dream presents something completely different: A family ship is now to be built, based on the existing fleet: entertainment with fairytale characters and action heroes, lots of color and show. The casino will disappear, and the originally planned number of passengers will be reduced from 9,500 to 6,000, plus cabins for up to 2,300 crew members.
So it has to be extensively converted on and in the GGlobal Dream, the Papenburg shipyard Meyer Werft, which has already built two ships for Disney Cruise Line, was commissioned to do this, and three more are on the order book. Meyer Werft only had it in June Disney Wish delivered: On it you can dine in several adventure restaurants between “Marvel” and “Frozen”, splash around in the slide paradise “Aqua Mouse” or experience “The Little Mermaid” as a musical evening program. It is designed for 4000 passengers, the Wismar ship is a push into a bigger league for Disney.
The purchase is therefore also to be understood as an indication of returning optimism in the industry: after bad years due to the corona pandemic, the demand for cruises has increased again. The international cruise association CLIA assumes that the number of guests will exceed the pre-crisis level by the end of 2023. Despite inflation, Disney seems to agree with this forecast.
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) had secured the site of the former MV shipyards in Wismar, and it was leased back by the insolvency administrator Morgen until the end of 2023. For the final work, the Global dream move to the equipment quay from 2024. The time of the cruise ships is then over: TKMS wants to build submarines in Wismar.